Sunday, January 20, 2013

I've had this version available for beta testing for quite some time and I've given the dedicated people on the forum a chance to test and give feedback. After making some adjustments based on the test feedback I think the version is good enough to release for everyone. Enjoy!

#627 Change from stun effect to piercing effect on crossbows #626 Monsters should use mana as well when spellcasting #625 Fix Book of Flames #624 Show Damage stat on item details screen for melee, missiles and ammo #623 Change damage resolution algorithm to start at a base value and scale with stats and stat roll #622 Add Damage stat to weapons (melee and missile) #621 Monster details view should show if the monster is on fire #620 Blood should not be drawn on top of bookshelves and cupboards

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Thanks to all of your feedback I'm getting closer and closer to a reasonable and predictable combat system. In the new 3rd beta I've decreased the defense on several armor pieces and increased base damage on most monsters (especially high level ones).

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

As many of you pointed out the first beta resulted in too many missed attacks and too wide damage distribution in relation to weapon base damage. I've uploaded a new beta with some changes that will make things more reasonable again.

One important change is that I've increased base attack for all player classes (I forgot to take into account that attack was dropped from melee weapons). Another big change is that I've tweaked damage distribution and to hit resolution a little bit more. This is how things work now:

All weapons have a base Damage stat

Damage is increased by 1% for each point of Attack

Damage is decreased by 1% for each point of Defense on the target

Damage is modified by attack roll - defence roll % (this is a representation of how well placed the attack was and how well the target managed to twist and turn to mitigate incoming damage)

I've made some drastic changes to weapons and damage calculations. The system I've used so far has been based on some pretty weird calculations and offensive vs defensive stat rolls. It has been hard to really explain the formula used and make things more predictable. Randomness is good in a game such as Dweller, but the randomness can also become a problem if the player can't really anticipate the outcome of his next move.

From now on all melee and ranged weapons will have a new stat called Damage. This is the base damage that a weapon will do when used. Every point of Attack your character has will increase the damage by 1%. To get some randomness going I still have an attack vs defense roll to determine if it's a hit or miss. If it's a hit the damage will be increased by attackroll-defenseroll % to reflect effectiveness of attack and how well armor absorbs the damage. Dodge and block are still there and they work as before.

I've also made similar changes to spell casting where each spell has been given a base damage (not shown anywhere in-game yet). Amount of damage is scaled by 1% for every point of Magic, and also by the offensive-defensive roll (often a Magic vs Magic roll).

All of these changes will inevitably mean bugs and I'd like to get some help finding them. There are beta versions for all platforms available here:

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Mainly a bugfix release, but also a blazingly hot change: Fire now adds a damage over time effect. This makes the Wizard more deadly but you should also pay more attention to Goblin Shaman (or stand in water when fighting them).

#618 Standing in water should remove Burning effect #617 Fire spells should add a Burning effect that does damage over time #616 Fix problem with Heal and Recharge not working properly in 1.22.15 #615 Fix crash when handing in a quest that doesn't give a reward #614 Change Slow from -5 Speed stat to 100% increase in time it takes to make a turn #613 Poison and Slow should wear off after a while #611 Monsters trading places when trying to reach the player should be based on attack stat, not weight Source and comments: http://www.dwellergame.com/2013/01/dweller-12216-smoking-hot.html

Friday, January 4, 2013

I've come to realize that I need to play around with effects such as poison and slow and make them wear off after a while. The current code is not optimal for this and I might have to refactor some stuff to get it right. With that in mind I thought it better to release the rest of the new features and get player feedback on those while I work on these other changes.

One change in 1.22.15 that I need player feedback on is the changes made to spell damage. In previous versions all fire spells did the same amount of damage regardless if it was an area of effect spell or a single target spell and regardless if it was Dragons Breath or the normal Fireball. In this new version spell damage varies depending on spell type and each spell should have a more stable and reliable damage and not show numbers all over the place. If you fancy playing a Wizard I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

Another change is that quests can now offer a choice of rewards instead of only a single one. This is especially interesting for quests where rewards were very class specific before (not that there are many quests in Dweller yet). So if you're on the Spider quest you'll be happy to see nice rewards for all three classes now.

#609 Fix problem with poisons not ticking properly on monsters #608 Add Ranger and Wizard rewards for Spider quest #578 Add support for choosing between multiple quest rewards #607 Fire spell damage should be a bit more predictable depending on spell, character level and target #606 Increase chance of Charm breaking #605 When a Charm spell break or is resisted it should severely aggravate the target #604 Reduce number of potions sold by the Healer #603 It should be possible to push and destroy tables #602 Add Pulpit, Wooden Debris, Cauldron and Cupboard #601 Add +Mana to Moonstone Pendant #600 Mana/energy should be shown on character summary screen Source and comments: http://www.dwellergame.com/2013/01/dweller-12215.html

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

I managed to screw up the last release by not having the new dev machine properly configured. It's resolved now and a new version with several game play tweaks and a few new items has been released. Here's the full list of changes:

#599 Adjust distance penalty for missiles #594 Nerf starting stats of the Ranger's dog #593 It should not be possible to use missile weapons at point blank range #592 Show Mana on item info screen #591 Add Moonstone Circlet #590 Add Mana increase to several items #589 Add Rod of Subduing #588 Increase drop chance of Wizard's Staff #587 Mark Animated Armor as undead/lifeless #586 Make sure creatures wake up if they are pushed aside by larger creatures #585 Make sure creatures wake up if they are knocked back Source and comments: http://www.dwellergame.com/2013/01/dweller-12214.html

Dweller

Dweller is a fantasy roguelike for Java enabled cellphones. A version for desktop computers also exist, but the main focus of development is for mobile platforms. Dweller is designed to run on any MIDP2 or Android OS 1.5+ enabled handset.

Dweller is free to download and play, but it is also a one-man effort to bring a full featured roguelike to cellphones and other mobile devices. If you like the game please consider sending a donation: